Washington, D.C.—Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have prevented interest rates on student loans from doubling in July from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The bill would have been paid for by closing a loophole that allows wealthy individuals to avoid paying employment taxes on a significant portion of their income:

“Today, Republicans voted to hit students with an additional $1,000 in debt in order to protect wealthy tax dodgers. Republicans have paid lip service to the need to protect our students from this crushing debt burden, but their obstruction speaks louder than their words.

“We have different approaches on how to pay for this bill, but Democrats’ main goal is to move this bill forward. If Republicans want to have a vote on an amendment with their alternative way to pay for the proposal, they are more than welcome to have that vote if doing so would move this bill closer to the President’s desk.

“Unfortunately, it appears that Republicans appear more interested in obstruction than progress. For the sake of the seven million students who are at risk of seeing their payments skyrocket, I hope Republicans’ actions will start to align more closely with their words.”